Friday, June 29, 2012

Fiber Arts Friday - An Afterthought

Welcome to Fiber Arts Friday! Knit, Spin, Weave, Crochet, Sew, Quilt, Felt...did I miss anything? If it's a Fiber Arts topic, we want you to share it. Each week bloggers from around the world link in to share their Fiber Arts adventures. Welcome to anyone new to Fiber Arts Friday and Thank you to everyone who joins in the fun each week.

This week I want to share with you the Moving Target socks I have been knitting for Nerd Wars. I have officially completed the first sock and am working on my second. For Nerd Wars, I need to complete a sock every two weeks if I want to complete both pair by the end of the tournament. So far...I am barely keeping pace although poolside knitting does help.

This pattern calls for an after-thought heel. I was very intimidated about knitting one because I wasn't sure how the socks would fit. How do you complete the toe without the heel? They pattern says that the heel will add about two inches...but would it?

By golly, it did! I LOVE this heel. I think it fits better than my short row heel and other than having to put all of my stitches back on the needle, I only had to pick up 2-3 stitches on each side. Ha! Take that messy gusset ;-)

Tour de Fleece starts this Sunday. Yikes! It's hard to believe that July 1 is already here. I am heading up the Team of Wonder - THE Alpaca Fiber Lovin' Team again this year. We have already had a lot of chatter going in our Ravelry group and I am looking forward to the next month of people sharing their spinning projects and techniques.

On the farm front, It's HOT out there! Temps hit 100 degrees yesterday. We sprayed the Alpacas down a few times. When I got home from work, I went out to the barn. All of the Alpacas were sitting outside under the overhang except for Mr. Tumnus. He was the smart one who stayed inside in front of the fan. The heat hasn't appeared to stress him out too much. I have given him some extra electrolytes though and made sure the adults had them available too. It's important to make sure that they don't lose vital nutrients in this heat.

Great socks, I believe I will have to knit myself a pair! The alpacas are so cute, do they take turns in the pool or do they have to get bossy with one another? I'm looking forward to TDF, have a wonderful weekend!

It's scary when the temps get so high. My dogs have been taking pretty short outside breaks the past few days. So glad we have a/c or it would be horrible for them with their hairy bodies. I love the socks. A pair of socks in two weeks is pretty darn ambitious. I might be able to do it once but couldn't keep that pace for long...my arm would want to fall off. Good luck and have a great week.

The socks are fabulous! I hope I can get that good at colour work one day. It's been outrageously hot and humid over here the last few days and everyone's been miserable - I hope it cools down soon for you guys and your lovely Alpacas!

Thank you for hosting this group. I really look forward to participating each week. I would like to pass my Beautiful Blogger award on to you. I love the updates of the alpacas. Such great baby pictures. Thanks! For the rules: http://fattoriafiberworks.wordpress.com/2012/06/29/the-beautiful-blogger-award/